This blog is about all the crafty endeavors I indulge in! I need somehow to be able to talk about the newest knit pattern I found or the newest ideas I have had so a blog is ideal for this!! I also hope this helps me keep track of those crazy ideas I get in the middle of the night when my friend, Insomnia, visits.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Knitting up a storm lately...but BOYS ONLY!!!

I have been on a knitting binge lately and I am not sure if I can stop! I know this doesn't sound like a "real" problem but it kind of is...you see, right now my family is on a baby kick. I have written past posts about how many babies are being born this year and how we are having a "run" on boys. Four of my nieces are adding to their families this year: 2 are already born, one is due any day now, and the last one will deliver in Oct/November. I believe that every baby should have at least one handmade baby item in their lives so I spend time finding patterns, buying yarn, and knitting something for the baby before the parents have their baby showers. I give every new baby in the family a handmade gift. I am certain by now all of my nieces and nephews ARE SICK of getting the same type of gifts but I do NOT care-handmade items are needed!
So far my nieces that have given birth had boys (Marvin and Tyler are exactly 1 month apart!) and my soon-to-deliver niece is also having a BOY! The last niece is finally giving the family a GIRL which is the first one in 3 years! You would think I would jump at the chance to knit little frilly girly items but...BUT...(and here is the problem I mentioned at the start!) I CANNOT STOP KNITTING BOY ITEMS!!!! In particular I cannot stop knitting boy items for the soon-to-be-born great nephew! As of right now I have knit: an afghan, a deer hat, 2 deer stuffies, 2-5 hour sweaters for boys, and 2 camo baseball hats! Today I found myself looking at booties/socks for him AND looking for orange yarn to make him ANOTHER baseball cap! I have to start knitting for the little girl being born soon and I CANNOT seem to cast on anything!
The baby afghan seems to be the favorite among all the family. I made alternating light and dark brown squares with "Deer heads" in the center. Instead of sewing these together using a mattress stitch or some other way of connecting squares I, instead, delved into the scary art of CROCHET! I find it extremely difficult to manage yarn with one hook and prefer to have TWO sticks in my hands when maneuvering yarn. However, my niece decorated her nursery in camo so I needed to incorporate it into the blanket somehow. Thanks to my sister, Lisa, (and YouTube), I learned how to use a crochet hook to connect the squares. Once I got used to only using one hand, the connecting of the squares went fairly easily and I even felt confident enough to add a border! Check my Instagram for close-ups of the squares!

Camo and deer head afghan-sorry so blurry

Deer stuffies

Dark brown deer stuffie

Light brown deer stuffie

Camo baby baseball cap

Side view of camo baseball cap

Smaller version of camo baseball cap

Camo baseball cap-newborn size

Camo baseball cap in larger size

Deer horn hat

Large 5 hour baby sweater in brownThere is also a camo version of this sweater but in my excitement I forgot to take a pic and my niece keeps FORGETTING to send me one! BRIE!!!!!!!

The following patterns were used in this post (all found on Ravelry.com)